1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an amusement game and more specifically to a water balloon target game.
2. Description of the Related Art
Water target games have long been a source of amusement and entertainment at carnivals, fairs, amusement parks, circuses and the like. Van Kannel, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,021,019, Keller, in 2,202,738 and O'Neil, in 5,087,054, each discloses an amusement apparatus in which a target, impacted by a projectile, releases a support or seat occupied by a person who is then dropped into a tank of water. These games are expensive, complicated in construction, large in size, require large volumes of water and have an inherent danger where the game participant is often plunged and submerged in a water filled tank.
Popeski and Pierce, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,480, disclose a water dumping game including a flush toilet with a target actuator mounted on a toilet support structure. This apparatus requires a hot and cold pressurized water source to recharge the toilet tank after each discharge. The flush toilet requires a substantial support structure. The toilet also incorporates a delay from the time when the target is impacted to when the water is discharged.
Franklin Pierce, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,228, discloses a water dumping target game including a bucket, adapted to be filled with water, having a release device for tilting the bucket. The release device includes a target which, when struck by a projectile, causes a lanyard to disengage, causing the bucket to pivot outwardly and dump water onto the area below. This device also requires a pressurized water source to refill the bucket after each discharge. This device offers no protection from the projectiles for anyone positioned in the area of the discharging bucket.
Shelley, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,220, discloses a game for bursting balloons with pressurized water that are suspended over players participating in the game. Erlandson and Wong, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,518 discloses a game where participants positioned inside enclosures launch water balloons from within their enclosures to impact on another similar enclosure to splash the enclosure's occupant. Both of these games are complex in construction and neither of them provides the entertainment derived from a target feature for game participants.